Nick Bosa the Game Changer!
San Francisco 49ers rout the Carolina Panthers 51-13
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa celebrates after an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
2019.10.27 – Rookie Nick Bosa became the game changer with three sacks to go along with a tremendous interception, Tevin Coleman scored four touchdowns, and the San Francisco 49ers rout the Carolina Panthers 51-13 to remained unbeaten 7-0.
Six months ago, Bosa was a question mark? He came to the Bay Area a ready villain because of his open support of President Donald Trump and some questionable activity on social media.
Now days, Bosa has become a superstar in the making. He is the primary reason why the 49ers defense has looked so historic Niners – allowing a total of 23 points over the last four games.
“It doesn’t really matter what the outside world thinks,” said cornerback Richard Sherman, who had an interception. “We know what we have in this building. The same thing we’ve said since training camp, we’ll continue to say. We knew the talent we have, we just have to execute and focus on us and let the chips fall where they may.”
As Sherman said previously, “If you were calling us pretenders in the beginning, call us pretenders now, call us pretenders the whole time.”
2020.04.25 – Nick Bosa the Game Changer! ‘vs. Chase Young‘
2020.04.25 – Nick Bosa the Game Changer! ‘vs. Chase Young‘
2019.10.27 – San Francisco 49ers vs. Carolina Panthers (Video)
2019.10.27 – San Francisco 49ers vs. Carolina Panthers (Video)
Racing out to six straight wins to open the season against a less than formidable schedule left some people doubting how good the 49ers actually are. Blowing out a Carolina team that had won four straight games should quiet some of those critics.
The Niners (7-0) are off to their best start since winning their first 10 games in 1990 and now have a second win against a team with a winning record thanks to a complete performance against the Panthers (4-3).
Jimmy Garoppolo and the offense had little trouble carving Carolina’s defense with 232 yards rushing and a pair of touchdown passes for San Francisco’s most prolific offensive game since beating Detroit 55-17 on Dec. 19, 1993. The Niners stellar defense did the rest.
San Francisco intercepted three passes from Kyle Allen, who came into the game with no interceptions on 153 career attempts while winning his first five starts in place of injured starter Cam Newton. They also had seven sacks, with Bosa getting three of them to go along with his leaping interception and 46-yard return on the final play of the third quarter.
“Whenever your moves are working really good, it’s a good feeling,” Bosa said. “Once you get a sack early you calm down.”
Bosa’s three sacks totaled 25 yards lost for Carolina. He now has a team-high seven on the season.
But his biggest play of the game was his interception, which he said was his first since a pick-six in high school.
This time, Daley was supposed to cut-block Bosa and keep him out of the way of a pass to running back Reggie Bonnafon in the left flat. But Bosa sidestepped Daley, he leaped right into the passing lane and snagged Allen’s pass out of the air.
2019.10.27 – En español : El programa “Los 49ers” (Video)
2019.10.27 – En español : El programa “Los 49ers” (Video)
Wait. Bosa was cut-blocked, stood back up, caught a pass and ran it 46 yards, overpowering two tacklers at the end?
“So he’s an honorary tight end,” George Kittle said, “on National Tight Ends Day.”
A tight end? Sherman was touting him for Defensive Player of the Year, skipping right over defensive rookie of the year. Nick Bosa the game changer.
3 sacks. 1 INT.
HAVE A GAME NICK BOSA 😤 (via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/OhcLcoejMT
— ESPN (@espn) October 27, 2019
Bosa tried to make it a pick-six. He sped away from Allen, stiff-armed D.J. Moore and juked Allen before Moore recovered and ankle tackled him. Bosa said his focus shifted from scoring to protecting the ball when the two Panthers got near.
“The play he made on the interception was one of the more impressive plays that I’ve seen from a D-lineman,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Thought he should have scored, but it’s always nice when they don’t and they let the offense score, too.”
2019.10.27 – Kyle Shanahan: Bosa was ‘Pretty Damn Impressive’ (Video)
2019.10.27 – Kyle Shanahan: Bosa was ‘Pretty Damn Impressive’ (Video)
Coleman did most of the rest of the damage. He scored on a 19-yard run in the first quarter, added a 10-yard catch in the second quarter, broke the game open with a 48-yard run late in the first half and added a 1-yard run late in the third quarter.
Coleman finished with 11 carries for 105 yards and two catches for 13 yards. He became just the fourth 49ers player to score at least four touchdowns in a regular-season game, joining Jerry Rice (1993, 1990) and Billy Kilmer (1961). Rice holds the team record with five TDs against Atlanta in 1990.
“He knows how to play in the offense,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He had some good looks today, and when Tevin has a good look, he usually can get in the end zone.”
Receiver Deebo Samuel added a 20-yard touchdown run on a nifty inside handoff that tricked Carolina and Raheem Mostert scored on a 41-yard run that made it 51-13 in the fourth quarter.
Garoppolo finished 18 for 22 for 175 yards with TD passes to Coleman and Emmanuel Sanders.
Allen went 19 for 37 for 158 yards on a day that Newton was able to take warmups before the game in a sign that he could be close to being ready to return from a foot injury that has sidelined him since Week 2.
Christian McCaffrey was the lone bright spot on Carolina’s offense with 117 yards rushing and a TD and 38 yards receiving.
“They showed up. We didn’t,” Panthers defensive lineman Gerald McCoy said. “We just didn’t come here today and be who we were supposed to be and play like we were supposed to play. We have to do a better job of not beating ourselves. We did a lot of wrong out there today.”
IMPRESSIVE DEBUT
The 49ers made a trade earlier in the week to acquire Sanders from Denver and it paid off almost immediately. Sanders caught two passes on the opening drive, including a 4-yard TD from Garoppolo . He finished with four catches for 25 yards.
“It was probably one of the easiest touchdowns I have had,” Sanders said. “It was awesome to get on the opening drive to be a newcomer on this team and be able to open up like that is awesome.”
HARD HIT
Niners kickoff specialist Mitch Wishnowsky got called for a rare personal foul when he was called for lowering his helmet to initiate contact on Carolina returner Reggie Bonnafon in the second quarter. That gave the Panthers the ball at the 49ers 47 to start the drive but a holding penalty on Trai Turner wiped out a long run by McCaffrey and a sack by D.J. Jones led to a stalled drive for Carolina.
INJURIES
Panthers: WR Jarius Wright left with a leg injury in the second half.
49ers: RB Matt Breida left after injuring his ankle late in the first half. … RB Jeff Wilson left in the fourth quarter with a stinger.
Related: San Francisco 49ers to 6-0 and beyond!
UP NEXT
Panthers: Host Tennessee on Sunday.
49ers: Visit Arizona on Thursday night.
Read more at: San Francisco 49ers Media Services / More AP NFL: www.apnews.com/tag/NFL
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
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